Around Town: Skate Canada stars cut rug at late-night party

OTTAWA — Athletes from the 2014 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships jumped from the rink to the dance floor, minus the triple Lutz, at a late-night Skate Canada party held Saturday at their downtown hotel, the Westin.

The skaters, looking every bit as glamorous as they do when performing on the ice, got to unwind and enjoy themselves in the scenic Governor General Ballroom.

Feeling over the moon was skater Gabrielle Daleman. She knew she was heading to the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. “It’s a great birthday present,” said Daleman, who turns 16 on Monday. The native of Newmarket, Ont., planned to “kick back and just have some fun” that night.

Olympic-bound pair skaters Dylan Moscovitch and Kirsten Moore-Towers, who train out of Kitchener-Waterloo, dropped into the gathering sometime after midnight and were seen catching up with friends. “It’s nice to see people in a more fun setting,” said Towers. Added Moscovitch: “It’s like a big family reunion.”

Also spotted was 15-year-old figure skater Nam Nguyen, who was born in Ottawa to Vietnamese parents. The rising star trains in Toronto with Brian Orser.

There were non-stop pop tunes played by a DJ and a portable Vibe Photo Booth, where athletes could pose with goofy hats and oversized sunglasses. The usual party food included healthy platters of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and asparagus and a chocolate fondue fountain with fresh fruit.

Highlights on the dance floor included the sight of junior skaters flapping their arms and twisting their hips to The Chicken Dance and, well after midnight, pair skater Rudi Swiegers gliding around with such grace and ease. His skating partner, Paige Lawrence, was also at the shindig. “Right now, I’m feeling so thankful and glad and excited and tired,” said Lawrence, who hails from rural Saskatchewan. “Really, I’m just so thankful that we are on the Olympic team.”

Toasting Sir John A.’s birthday

It was an evening to raise one’s glass of whisky or gin or, better yet, an entire bottle, and toast our founding prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, in honour of his 199th birthday on Saturday.

More than 60 attendees got together Friday for the sold-out birthday bash, held at the HMCS Bytown Naval Officers’ Mess. The event was co-hosted by the Ottawa branch of the Monarchist League of Canada (MLC) and the Macdonald-Cartier Society (MCS).

There was birthday cake (not topped with 199 candles, thank goodness), the collective singing of O Canada and God Save the Queen and rousing cheers for Macdonald and Sir George-Étienne Cartier, his key Quebec ally for bringing French Canadians into Confederation. Everyone toasted the two leading Fathers of Confederation, along with Our Majesty the Queen.

The evening’s special guest was Kevin MacLeod, Canadian Secretary to the Queen and former Usher of the Black Rod. He made brief but pertinent comments about Macdonald, describing the nation-builder as a devoted husband and father, nationalist and visionary who came to Canada by boat as a child immigrant from Scotland. “We see him as this great Statesman, and in many respects we should … but more than anything else, he was a common man with common values and common purpose,” MacLeod told the room.

The evening featured a lively game show-styled quiz on Sir John A. It was hosted by Peter Kucherepa, who styled himself an impressive set of Confederation-era sideburns just for the event. Crackerjack contestants included Allan Jones, chair of the MLC Ottawa, and Brian Lee Crowley, managing director of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute.

Also present were Al Gullon, playing the role of Sir John A, co-organizer Mary de Toro from the MLC Ottawa branch, Peter Meincke from the Royal Commonwealth Society of Canada and MCS president Immanuel Giulea, who drove in from Montreal.

Much fun with the Fools

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a (media comp) ticket to A Company of Fools’ annual Twelfth Night Celebration, held at the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage last Sunday.

A sold-out audience of about 150 spent a merry few hours with the Fools as the professional theatre company launched its 2014 season.

Attendees included Florence’s three-year-old son Raffi, who showed up in his Queen of England costume, and Barbara McInnes, retiring president and chief executive of the Community Foundation of Ottawa. She and the foundation are supporters of the theatre company, well known for its summer outdoor Torchlight Shakespeare plays staged in public parks. “The arts are as important to the quality of life as anything else,” said McInnes while buying a whack of raffle tickets.

Jeremy Dias, founder of Jer’s Vision youth diversity initiative, was seen yukking it up in the audience. He was out to support the Fools because he understands their challenge of working with a tight budget. “They’re ‘The little engine that could’ of Ottawa theatre,” said Dias.

The Fools had an ongoing drive to raise $6,000 — $1,000 more than in the past — but were still $1,000 short of their goal by the end of their Twelfth Night Celebration.

Patrick Gauthier took to the stage to plug next month’s “undercurrents: theatre below the mainstream” festival at the GCTC while director Matthew John Lundvall promoted this summer’s Torchlight Shakespeare production of As You Like it. A shout-out also goes out to Tim Oberholzer for parading that glorious Rubber Chicken Award around with him on stage. He’s from The Gladstone Theatre, which won the 2013 Ottawa Theatre Challenge. This year’s challenge, happening March 27 at the Fourth Stage, supports the Actors Fund of Canada.

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